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| Books & Authors Recommended and not so recommended reading. |
07-24-2006, 12:09 PM
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#16
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Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Southern Indiana
Gender: Male
Posts: 166
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wow, i rather enjoyed eragon and eldest. well, eldest at least. ok, well, at the end, eldest was good. Chris Paolini's talent for character writing is really lacking, but the story line for Eragon and Eldest is good. i imagine the movies will be better.
as far as books to stay away from, i can't really think of any. i haven't been able to read as much as i would like to have lately.  |
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07-24-2006, 04:51 PM
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#17
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Addict
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: New Zealand
Posts: 100
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I feel a bit guilty about singling out an individual book as being really bad, as who am I to say what's hot and what's not. But on the other hand, if someone writes something that stinks shouldn't they be told so?
Anyway, the worst book I've ever read, by an absolute mile, was Battleaxe by Sara Douglass. The plot was the standard Fantasy blueprint of a band of heroes setting out on a quest. The men were all butch types, and the women weak and watery. There were multiple POV changes, often within the same paragraph. What felt like important characters came and went willy-nilly, usually to never appear again once they'd said their piece. It was overly long, with self-indulgent descriptions of armour and swords and stuff like that. Most of the nonhuman races just seemed thrown together, i.e. the author likes cats so she creates a race of half cat half human people.
But, even though it was a terrible read, I did find it encouraging, insomuch as if a book like that can find its way onto a bookshop shelf, then there's hope for me. I keep meaning to read it again, and this time mark all the really bad bits so I can use them to make sure I'm not writing that way.
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07-24-2006, 05:05 PM
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#18
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Ink Slinger
Join Date: May 2006
Posts: 2,139
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Ah i thought this was about lord of the rings when i looked at the title.
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07-24-2006, 05:13 PM
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#19
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Profound Writer
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Glasgow, UK
Gender: Male
Posts: 1,120
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Even if you narrowed the topic from 'worst book ever' to 'worst fantasy book ever' The Lord of the Rings will still find itself propped up by everything Terry Goodkind has ever written.
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08-10-2006, 11:35 PM
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#20
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Ink Slinger
Join Date: Apr 2006
Gender: Male
Posts: 2,358
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by simon woodhouse
I feel a bit guilty about singling out an individual book as being really bad, as who am I to say what's hot and what's not. But on the other hand, if someone writes something that stinks shouldn't they be told so?
Anyway, the worst book I've ever read, by an absolute mile, was Battleaxe by Sara Douglass. The plot was the standard Fantasy blueprint of a band of heroes setting out on a quest. The men were all butch types, and the women weak and watery. There were multiple POV changes, often within the same paragraph. What felt like important characters came and went willy-nilly, usually to never appear again once they'd said their piece. It was overly long, with self-indulgent descriptions of armour and swords and stuff like that. Most of the nonhuman races just seemed thrown together, i.e. the author likes cats so she creates a race of half cat half human people.
But, even though it was a terrible read, I did find it encouraging, insomuch as if a book like that can find its way onto a bookshop shelf, then there's hope for me. I keep meaning to read it again, and this time mark all the really bad bits so I can use them to make sure I'm not writing that way.
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Out of curiousity, did you read the rest of the series? IIRC it had a few twists in the last.
I rather enjoyed it - but I tend to avoid analysing/criting books I read, preferring to lose myself in them as much as I am able.
Another book Sara Douglass wrote - Threshold (I think) - was much better than the Axis trilogy...
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08-10-2006, 11:46 PM
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#21
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Writing Machine
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Not over there, that's for sure....
Gender: Male
Posts: 1,783
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Becuase you guys hate it, I'm starting to.
Edit: Wikipedia stolen.... I laughed at this.
(Eragon left/ LOTR right)
Arya - Arwen, Arda
Ardwen - Arwen
Isenstar - Isengard
Mithrim - Mithrim or mithril
Eragon - Aragorn/dragon
Angrenost - Angrenost, the Sindarin name for Isengard
Morgothal - Morgoth
Elessari - Elessar
Furnost - Fornost
Hadarac Desert - Harad Desert
Melian - Melian
Vanilor - Valinor
Eridor - Eriador
Imiladris - Imladris
Undin - Fundin/Udun
Gil'ead - Gil'Galad
Hrothgar - Hrothgar
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Last edited by demon_ : 08-10-2006 at 11:49 PM.
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08-11-2006, 05:18 AM
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#22
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Prolific Writer
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: London
Gender: Female
Posts: 426
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LOTR wasn't the only thing borrowed from.
Page 393 (Eldest): "He savored the epics as he might a well-cooked meal, lingering over The Deed of Geda...
Yeah.
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08-11-2006, 04:56 PM
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#23
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Writing Machine
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Not over there, that's for sure....
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Posts: 1,783
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That's sad 
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Nowhuttumsayen?
click on the spoiler for YOUR health...
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08-12-2006, 05:58 PM
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#24
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Moderator
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Indiana
Gender: Male
Posts: 6,401
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Really... stealing from Beowulf. I suppose he thought he was being clever and symbolic. I have a friend like that...
More throes of agony from cliche fantasy writers that should have published on Fictionpress.
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09-18-2006, 07:48 PM
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#25
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Addict
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: New Mexico, U.S.A.
Gender: Male
Posts: 134
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I wish his books weren't so popular though. There's good writing, and then there's this.
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09-25-2006, 03:47 PM
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#26
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Addict
Join Date: Dec 2005
Posts: 134
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What I can't figure out is how they ever got a publishing house like Alfred A. Knopf to take it on?
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09-25-2006, 06:39 PM
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#27
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Addict
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: New Mexico, U.S.A.
Gender: Male
Posts: 134
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by AdrienneW
What I can't figure out is how they ever got a publishing house like Alfred A. Knopf to take it on?
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I was under the impression that his parents work for Knopf, or a company related to Knopf.
ETA: Urp, apparently I was wrong about that. The wiki article about Christopher Paolini talks about how it happened. |
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09-25-2006, 09:51 PM
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#28
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Best Seller
Join Date: Feb 2006
Posts: 654
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Shawn, that is probably more of a tribute. I'm an anti-shurtugal member myself, but still --- he named the dwarf king Hrothgar and I doubt he thinks he'd fool anyone, so logically it's a tribute. He liked the book, he's giving tributes out. Not the best idea, but it's always fun to leave little bits and pieces of symbolism and random connections even if you're the only one to know them.
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09-26-2006, 08:51 PM
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#29
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.
Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 218
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Krim
Shawn, that is probably more of a tribute. I'm an anti-shurtugal member myself, but still --- he named the dwarf king Hrothgar and I doubt he thinks he'd fool anyone, so logically it's a tribute. He liked the book, he's giving tributes out.
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Tribute my ass...
Blatant plagiarism and tribute(/symbolism) are in no way synonymous.
Logic must be backwards in my mind, because I don't think "tribute", I think "hack".
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Krim
Not the best idea, but it's always fun to leave little bits and pieces of symbolism and random connections even if you're the only one to know them.
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(Response withheld...for now.) |
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09-30-2006, 03:59 PM
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#30
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Addict
Join Date: Dec 2005
Posts: 134
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I have to admit. I think its pretty cool his parents backed him up and believed in him. Really cool he made it on the best seller list...I have to admit, he's exactly what most of us dream about...but I still have to wonder how the book got that popular....I am personally still trying to get through it and having a hard time of it. I have not enjoyed it much at all.
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